The day book. (Chicago, Ill.) 1911-1917, March 04, 1913, Image 10

Image and text provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library, Urbana, IL

THE PEOPLE CAN MAKE THE NEWSPAPERSBEHAVE IF THEY GO AT IT THE RIpHT WAYBy N. D. Cochran, Editor of The Day book.YOU may think that readers have no influence on newspapereditors and publishers, but J. know better; and I've been in thenewspaper business for 30 years. f,1 know that already readers of The Day Book have influenced Ithe policy -of this paper by writing letters criticizing some of the'ihoughtless. things we have said, some of the comment that wasunjust. .And that's the kind of a newspaper I want The Day Book'tolie, one that is very sensitive to every criticism of itsreaders. Ireally want it to be the .kind of a paper the people of Chicago wantIt to be. And by the people I mean the 95 per cent who do Chicago'swork but don't own or control its wealth.Other editors and .publishers are just as human as I am, when 'you get under their human hide. They are sensitive to the opinions .or their readers.But they are also human enough to imagine that the peoplewant what they want them to want, so long as the .people don't tellwhat they wapt. Andof course, being that human, they are humanenoughto make mistakes.I'm going to ,let you. in on a secret that newspaper publishersgenerally keep to themselves ; and it concerns the power the peoplehave over a newspapers.You elect an alderman, a mayor or other supposed public ser-vant for a term of years. If he fails to represent you you have tostand for it until the next election, because the influences that con- 'trol legislation won't give you the right to recall public servants.But you have the- right ot instantaneous recall on any news- ..paper you buy, unless you have let yourself be bribed into a contract whereby for a parlor lamp, a pair .of lace curtains, a rockingchair, an electric iron, a cuspidor or something else, you agree totake' "the paper for a year or more whether you want' it or riot.You can stop taking a paper any day yo'u want to, if you haven'tsewed yourself up with a contract. . And if all of the readers of afaithless newspaper who find themselves misrepresented by itshould stop taking it, that paper would be in a .mighty bad way,..forwithout circulation there is no value to its advertising space.If in any commuriitythe people can get the papers into competition for' public favor, then each will try to. outdo the other inpleasing the people; and naturally: the most faithful representativeof the people would get the largest circulation, and hence the highestadvertising rate